Students appear for several competitive exams throughout their educational journey. Lakhs of students in our country apply and appear for various examinations right after they complete school in Class 12. These include entrance exams for getting admission into various colleges and courses. Various undergraduate courses require the candidates to appear for competitive entrance exams that are held at the national level. These include examinations like the Joint Entrance Examination IIT JEE Mains and Advance (JEE), Birla Institute of Technology and Science Admission Test (BITSAT), National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET), Common-Law Admission Test (CLAT), and many more.
All these examinations have certain norms set that decide if you are eligible to appear for them. The Eligibility for IIT JEE Mains usually includes a set age limit, educational qualifications, minimum passing marks in the last examination appeared for, etc. In order to register for appearing in any competitive examination, candidates must meet the eligibility criteria or their application is automatically rejected. In this article, you will find all the required information about the eligibility criteria for the JEE Mains that are held every year for students who wish to get admission to the engineering colleges of our country.
The Joint Entrance Examination – Mains or IIT JEE Mains is a yearly-held competitive examination for securing admissions in various national engineering institutes including the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and the “centrally funded technical institutes” (CFTIs). This examination is organised by the National Test Agency (NTA). The IIT JEE Mains are also a preliminary test for appearing in the next level that is JEE Advance, which students need to clear in order to secure admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology or IITs.
Before appearing for the IIT JEE Mains, students are required to register on the official portal by filling in their personal information, educational details, documents for verification, etc. This registration is important in order for students to get their admit card that is required for appearing in the IIT JEE Mains. However, before the registration, the prospective candidates should be aware of the eligibility criteria which they need to fulfil in order to appear for this examination. Below is a detailed account of the eligibility criteria provided by NTA for the candidates appearing in the Joint Entrance Examination – Mains.
Eligibility Criteria for IIT JEE Mains
The following points include the eligibility criteria for students appearing in the JEE Mains for the first time after passing Class 12 Boards:
- Age Limit
The upper limit has not been specified for the JEE Main. However, the lower age limit of this entrance exam is that candidates must be old enough to have passed 10+2 or equivalent exams. (Lakegenevaadventures.com)
- Qualifying exam for JEE Main
The applicants must have passed their 10+2 or equivalent examination on appearing for this entrance. Students who are currently appearing for their 10+2 examinations may also appear for this test. - Mandatory subjects for all undergraduate courses
Since this entrance exam helps students get into many courses like B. Tech/B.E or B. Arch/B. Planning, there are a few compulsory subject combinations that each candidate needs to have in their 10+2 exams depending on the chosen courses: - For B.Tech/B.E Courses: Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry, Biotechnology, Biology, Vocational Subject, any Language, or another subject.
- For B. Arch & B.Planing Courses: Physics, Chemistry, and Maths are mandatory along with any language, technical, vocational, or other subjects.
- Qualifying examination score for all categories
- General Category: Minimum 75% in aggregate or be in the top 20 percentile in their 10+2 examination.
- SC/ST/PWD category: Minimum 65% in aggregate
Eligibility Criteria for Dropper Students
There are two categories the dropper students are differentiated into. One of these categories includes the students who appeared for the JEE Mains in the previous year but failed to qualify and will be appearing for it again. The other category includes the candidates who passed their 10+2 examination in the previous year and took a year gap to prepare and appear for JEE Mains this year. Following is eligibility criteria for candidates of both of these categories:
- Age Limits: Previously, the maximum age to qualify for JEE Mains was 25 years. Although there has been a recent announcement by the Supreme Court confirming that there would not be any upper age restriction for the JEE Mains anymore.
- Minimum Educational Qualification: Candidates need to have completed their 10+2 or equivalent examination as the minimum qualification.
- Qualifying examination score for all categories:
- General Category: A minimum result of 75% in aggregate or a position in the top 20 percentile in their 10+2 examination.
- SC/ST/PWD: Minimum 65% in aggregate
Other important eligibility rules
There are some more points in the eligibility criteria that the candidates appearing for the JEE Mains are required to adhere to. Some of these were introduced when the body conducting this exam changed from CBSE to NTA These include:
- The number of maximum attempts: One can only have a maximum of 3 consecutive attempts to clear the JEE Mains. Hence, the dropper students who have appeared once in the examination and failed to qualify may only be able to appear for it two more times.
It should also be ensured that these 3 attempts are made in consecutive years. If there is a gap between any of the two out of three attempts, the candidates won’t be allowed to appear again.
Since the JEE Mains now takes place more than once a year, the admission process over one specific academic session is treated as a single attempt. - Compulsory possession of the Aadhaar Card: The applicants who are citizens of India are required to possess an Aadhaar Card, the details of which are to be filled in by the candidates during the registration process. Similarly, in the case of a foreign candidate, the possession of their passport and providing its details in the registration application is necessary for appearing in the JEE Mains.
